Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research

Deepening our understanding of issues confronting contemporary society

The Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research (GCSCR) is dedicated to increasing our understanding of current challenges facing the modern world. Through the application of innovative humanities and social science research, incorporating the knowledge of academics from a broad range of interrelated disciplines, we are at the cutting edge of humanities and social science discourse. Our Centre's research is focused on the following contemporary themes; History, Media and Change; Crises: Communities; Safety and Security, Heritage and Wellbeing and Language, Culture and Belonging.

Our centre

Our research

Our researchers

Partner with us

Research degrees

2018 Public lecture and research showcase

Professor Julianne Schultz

Professor Julianne Schultz AM, FAHA has been appointed as Professor of Media and Culture in the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research. She presented a lecture titled " What do we want to be when we grow up? The role of the humanities in a more mature national conversation".

Read the lecture

Women and Sport Symposium

Join us for Women and Sport II: "Making space" for women in sport on Wednesday 28 November 2018. Continuing on from the excitement and connections forged at last year’s event, this year’s Women and Sport II extends the focus on multiplicities and difference, including speakers from diverse sports, and diverse academic and practice backgrounds.

Register here

DOCTORAL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

The Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research is inviting applications to undertake doctoral work in the broad areas of 'History, media and change', 'Crises: communities, safety and security', 'Language, culture and belonging', and 'Heritage and well-being'. Suitably qualified domestic and international applicants will be eligible to to apply for funding through the Griffith University Higher Degree Research (HDR) Scholarship programme.

Find out more

E-BULLETIN AUGUST 2018

Welcome to our mid-year e-bulletin for 2018. Please read on about the incredible work of our researchers so far this year and to see what we have coming up for the rest of 2018.

Find out more

UPCOMING CENTRE EVENTS

Regular Writing Group — Write Like the Wind

This regular Friday writing session is dedicated to helping anyone who is keen to get some quality writing done without any interruption.

Find out more

Research Strengths

History, media and change

The notion of ‘change’ is explored through the lenses of history and media, whilst examining internationalism, Indigenous protest and reform movements, migration and refugee studies, the circulation of radical ideas within populist movements in the post-enlightenment and how minority critics of settler colonialism south to mobilise social justice politics during the first half of the twentieth century.

Theme leaders are: Professor Fiona Paisley and Professor Susan Forde

Crises: Communities, safety and security

We study crises, safety and disasters in contemporary social and political contexts, as well as acknowledging economic and technological developments and their impact. Our research ambition is interdisciplinary with connections between history, media studies, sociology, security studies and other social-scientific fields of inquiry.

Theme leaders are: Professor Sidney Dekker and Associate Professor Halim Rane

Language, culture and belonging

We bring together linguists, sociologists, communication researchers, Islamic studies scholars and cultural experts to investigate language diversity, different ways of belonging, and cultures of resistance. Our work takes place in diverse environments—urban environments, rural and regional locations, online spaces—and considers the complexities of intercultural interaction and lifestyle politics.

Theme leaders are: Professor Cliff Goddard and Professor Andy Bennett

Heritage and well-being

This research theme draws together academics working in diverse areas to develop new research projects on the role and significance of heritage in the contemporary world, as well as new ways to protect and present it for future generations. Potential projects in this theme include an interrogation of the connections between heritage and well-being in varied settings such as Indigenous heritage sites and community institutions involved in preserving popular culture; and connections between heritage, place and memory in increasing understandings of the construction of identity at local, national and international levels.

Theme leaders are: Professor Paul Taçon and Associate Professor Sarah Baker

Harry Gentle Resource Centre

Documenting the lives and experiences of the people, groups and organisations of pre-separation Queensland and Australia. Image: Conrad Martens, Kangaroo Point, 1852. Courtesy: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW.

Find out more